Letters to the editor

Thursday

May 22, 2008 at 2:00 AMJan 21, 2011 at 9:02 AM

Concerned about curbs and theenvironment

All throughout our town there are crumbling yellow curbs. I picked up a piece the size of a snickerdoodle in the Plaza. The yellow paint is the color of bee pollen. It is breaking and crumbling off from the curbs in thick slabs, chunks and bits and it is falling into the gutters. From there the yellow paint goes where it will on the foot, on the wing, in the wind, in the sewers into Bear Creek.&

What is the composition of the yellow paint and how might it affect our environment? The curbs are also unsightly. A more lasting method of yellowing the curbs should be adopted. All colors of paints used on curbs should meet certain eco-friendly requirements for permanence and low toxicity.

Patti Morey

Hillary should compete until the end

I believe Ellen R. Malcolm, founder of Emily's List, said it best:

"So here we are in the fourth quarter of the nominating process and the game is too close to call. Once again, the opponents and the media are calling for Hillary to quit. The first woman ever to win a presidential primary is supposed to stop competing, to curtsy and exit stage right.

Why on earth should one candidate quit before the contest is finished? Democrats need not be so fainthearted. Both of the party's remaining candidates have raised tens of millions of dollars. Both have the respect of Democrats nationwide. Each has a progressive agenda that stands in stark contrast to Sen. John McCain and his adherence to Bush administration policies.

So why are some Democrats so afraid? We simply need to count every vote, let the remaining states have their say and see the process through to its conclusion.

Hillary Clinton certainly has the right to compete till the end. But I believe Hillary also has a responsibility to play the game to its conclusion.

For the women of my generation who learned to find and channel their competitiveness, for the working women who never falter in the face of pressure, for the younger women who still believe women can do anything, Hillary is a champion. She's shown us over and over that winners never quit and that quitters never win.

We'll cheer her on until the game is over. And we hope that when the final whistle blows, we will have elected the first female president and the best president our country has ever had."

Matt Wasserman

Thanks to Temple for clarifying Art

Thank you for the recent article clarifying Art Bullock's role in Ashland municipal governance. The point and counterpoint imply an argument that citizens should leave government to incumbents.

The fact is that the courts upheld Bullock on a number of counts, which is an improvement in public service. What is the outcome of the argument that citizens should leave government to the professionals and not "meddle" in decision making? Who would propose such an argument?

Steve Ryan

In consideration of a non-resident mayor

For over three weeks now, I've been trying to find an official to require Mayor Morrison to obey the law. I'm forced to conclude that either no one is specifically tasked with this, or the words don't mean anything. So, I'm going to try this appeal to public sentiment. Simply put, Morrison ain't one of us. Certainly, no one calls him neighbor. The best he can do is point to a borrowed mailbox.

An Ashlander is part of the new, backwardly mobile middle-class. The edge is our shared property line. It takes determination to live in this town. It takes working as many jobs and as many hours as required to make ends meet. Sometimes it requires cutting back or going without.

When public service is performed, as it so often is, it's done for its own reward, not in lieu of rent. But Morrison has shown that he won't break the necessary sweat or make the sacrifices to build a life with the rest of us here. Instead, he fudges the paperwork and expects special consideration.

Who is that guy riding in our July 4 parade, waving and pretending to be one of us? And how many non-resident, elected officials do we want in our parade with him?

John Gaffey

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